Cantrell v. United States
| Decision Date | 22 November 1926 |
| Docket Number | No. 4785,4842.,4785 |
| Citation | 15 F.2d 953 |
| Parties | CANTRELL et al. v. UNITED STATES. HUNNICUTT v. SAME. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
W. J. Rutledge, Jr., and Webster Atwell, both of Dallas, Tex., for plaintiffs in error.
Henry Zweifel, U. S. Atty., of Fort Worth, Tex., Sarah Cory Menezes, Asst. U. S. Atty., of Dallas, Tex., and David C. McCaleb, Asst. U. S. Atty., of Fort Worth, Tex.
Before WALKER, BRYAN, and FOSTER, Circuit Judges.
The defendants, Cantrell, Hunnicutt, Kerr, and Johnson, were convicted upon an indictment charging them, in separate counts, with having in their possession a still for the purpose of distilling spirits without having first registered the same, with engaging in the business of distillers without giving bond, with carrying on that business with intent to defraud the government of its tax on distilled spirits, and with making mash fit for the distillation of whisky on premises other than a distillery duly authorized by law, all in violation of the requirements of sections 3258, 3260, 3257, and 3282 (Comp. St. §§ 5994, 5997, 5993, 6022), respectively, of the Revised Statutes. They were also convicted on an additional count charging them with conspiracy to commit the substantive offenses set out in the other counts, in violation of section 37 of the Criminal Code (Comp. St. § 10201).
The evidence disclosed the following state of facts:
The defendant Cantrell owned a city lot in Dallas. He built a house and garage on it. Under the house, and below the surface of the ground, he built a basement, which he connected with the garage by an underground passageway, which extended under the concrete floor of the garage. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the basement and passageway were made of cement. There was no opening between the house and the basement. However, a square of the concrete floor of the garage was so constructed and arranged that, by means of a hoist, it could be lowered into the passageway and raised again to the level of the floor. When it was lowered, it afforded an entrance through the passageway into the basement, and when it was raised it had the appearance of being nothing more than a part of the garage floor. A concrete door was also provided at the entrance from the passageway into the basement, which, when closed, had the appearance of a blank wall. The defendant Hunnicutt was on the premises during the building operations, and remained at the house for a time after they were completed.
A prohibition agent procured a search warrant purporting to authorize a search of the house for intoxicating liquors. He called at the house to make a search, and was met at the door by the defendant Kerr. A search of the house failed to disclose any evidence of a violation of law, and then, with Kerr's consent, the search was continued into the back yard, where a water pipe was found leading from back of a water meter in the direction of the garage. The agent went into the garage to investigate further, and discovered there was a false...
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